The Preforntal Cortex: Your Brain’s Air Traffic Control Center

The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain just behind the forehead. It plays an essential role in executive functions. Simply put, executive functions are a group of mental skills that help you carry out goal-directed thought and behavior to navigate everyday life.

A helpful way to picture how this works is to think of your prefrontal cortex as your brain’s personal air traffic control center. At a busy airport, dozens of planes arrive, depart, and pass through the same airspace at the same time. An air traffic controller has to safely manage many different runways, filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set goals, and control their impulses to make sure the airport runs smoothly. These are skills that are like what the prefrontal cortex has to juggle.

Many different skills fall under the umbrella of executive functions and researchers do not always group them in the same way. There is general agreement that there are three core executive functions (impulse control, flexibility, and self-control), but the exact categories can vary (Diamond, 2013). For the purpose of this discussion, I will focus on eight key executive skills that are commonly described in child development and neuropsychology.

1. Impulse Control

The ability to think before you act.

2. Emotional Control

The ability to keep your feelings in check.

3. Flexible Thinking

The ability to adjust to unexpected changes and think outside of the box.

4. Working Memory

The ability to keep information in mind to complete a task.

5. Self-Monitoring

The ability to check and see what you are doing to make sure you are doing a task correctly.

6. Planning/Prioritizing

The ability to decide on a goal and then execute a plan of action.

7. Task Initiation

The ability to get started.

8. Organization

The ability to keep track of things both mentally and physically.

Among these skills, impulse control is one that many parents recognize right away. It is your brain’s way of hitting the brakes before doing something you might regret. It’s basically the, “are you sure you want to do that” button. It throws up red flags when your brain wants to do something reckless. Impulse control is not always easy, not even for adults. Check out this great example of how my cat handled his impulses. How did he do?

The Activities Guide from Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child offers age-appropriate activities and games to strengthen executive function skills in children.